Hey guy's just figured id copy and paste this article I read about recovery backups and blob folder within..
If your like me you probaly wondering what this new blob folder is and why is it consuming alit of space...so I was gonna delete it but decided not too and read first this is what I found:
ClockworkMod Recovery now deduplicates files between builds. This results in way smaller backups.
Don't delete /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs
Overview
I've gotten a few questions about how this works, so I figured I'd make a post on it.
https://plus.google.com/103583939320326217147/posts/L5aVZe7C9vg
Basically, here's what happens:
The files being backed up are hashed (sha256, not that it matters). Then it checks for a file with the name of the hash in
/sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs
So, if the hash of the file was*c5273884b90d490134e7737b29a65405cea0f7bb786ca82c6337ceb24de6f5ed, it looks for /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs/c5273884b90d490134e7737b29a65405cea0f7bb786ca82c6337ceb24de6f5ed
If the hash file is found, it continues on to the next file. Otherwise, it copies the file to the blobs directory with the file name being the hash.
ROMs and user data, for the most part, do not change too much between builds and backups. So, your APKs, system files, etc, are generally only stored once. This saves a ton of space. Especially between incremental backups.
Some of you may be thinking "well, how do I delete a backup?".
First, never delete the blobs directory. This would actually delete all your backups by rendering them unusable.
Simply delete the usual backup directory, and the next time you run a backup, all the unused hash files will be automatically delete (a process known as garbage collection). The recovery will show "Freeing space..." while this is happening.
Thank you for the info! I was just looking for this today as my blobs was about 4gb large
Question:
If I wanted to free up space and backup my backups to my PC, could I just move the backup folders with the entire Blobs folder and be good to go?
Thanks.
msherman123 said:
Thank you for the info! I was just looking for this today as my blobs was about 4gb large
Question:
If I wanted to free up space and backup my backups to my PC, could I just move the backup folders with the entire Blobs folder and be good to go?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah personally that's what I did to save my backups i needed in case of anything...since the new system deletes your old one when making a new backup..it cleans or so called "unused space" now....what I did is save the whole clockwork folder and placed it on my computer and save them as according to what ROM now...this new setup I don't like....I had 4 GB in my blob folder too...what a waste of space. for a new idea..I understand there method of a full proof backup system..but why change something that wasn't broke in the first place right?...
wish777 said:
Yeah personally that's what I did to save my backups i needed in case of anything...since the new system deletes your old one when making a new backup..it cleans or so called "unused space" now....what I did is save the whole clockwork folder and placed it on my computer and save them as according to what ROM now...this new setup I don't like....I had 4 GB in my blob folder too...what a waste of space. for a new idea..I understand there method of a full proof backup system..but why change something that wasn't broke in the first place right?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure, but doesn't cwm have an option to backup to single file like it used to?
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
I'm not sure man..if you see it let me know..I'd love the old setup. This new way is horrible... Lol
wish777 said:
I'm not sure man..if you see it let me know..I'd love the old setup. This new way is horrible... Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory this should be a much more efficient use of space. Im sure each backup contains a lot of files/data that is already backed up in a previous backup basically wasting space on redundant data. This is kinda like backup cubing sorta...at least the way Im thinking of it. This method saves nothing ONLY if every single backup is absolutely unique which would make your blob huge. I like the idea....but I use twrp so it doesnt affect me.
wish777 said:
I'm not sure man..if you see it let me know..I'd love the old setup. This new way is horrible... Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have cwm installed, but check settings, I am confident you'll find an option for tar or whatever format it was before.
Have you tried twrp? I heard great things about it.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
sonny21 said:
I don't have cwm installed, but check settings, I am confident you'll find an option for tar or whatever format it was before.
Have you tried twrp? I heard great things about it.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know I been flashing roms for so many years that I guess im old school. .lol I never tried twrp..I guess I should try it from alot of people giving it such postive reviews..I guess im just stuck in my ways ibshould be more openmined about recovery....lol....thank you
wish777 said:
You know I been flashing roms for so many years that I guess im old school. .lol I never tried twrp..I guess I should try it from alot of people giving it such postive reviews..I guess im just stuck in my ways ibshould be more openmined about recovery....lol....thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah no problem, usually I like to stick to what works for me as well.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
wish777 said:
You know I been flashing roms for so many years that I guess im old school. .lol I never tried twrp..I guess I should try it from alot of people giving it such postive reviews..I guess im just stuck in my ways ibshould be more openmined about recovery....lol....thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have found that TWRP and CWM have there specific needs and functions. I usually try both when settleing on a dailu driver. Kinda odd but they handle data slightly different and bugs turn up on a install depending on one or the other. (Under controlled conditions and data that you can reference) . I have just had to accept that some things work well with TWRP and others with CWM.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Thank you guys for the info ..
wish777 said:
Hey guy's just figured id copy and paste this article I read about recovery backups and blob folder within..
If your like me you probaly wondering what this new blob folder is and why is it consuming alit of space...so I was gonna delete it but decided not too and read first this is what I found:
ClockworkMod Recovery now deduplicates files between builds. This results in way smaller backups.
Don't delete /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs
Overview
I've gotten a few questions about how this works, so I figured I'd make a post on it.
https://plus.google.com/103583939320326217147/posts/L5aVZe7C9vg
Basically, here's what happens:
The files being backed up are hashed (sha256, not that it matters). Then it checks for a file with the name of the hash in
/sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs
So, if the hash of the file was*c5273884b90d490134e7737b29a65405cea0f7bb786ca82c6337ceb24de6f5ed, it looks for /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs/c5273884b90d490134e7737b29a65405cea0f7bb786ca82c6337ceb24de6f5ed
If the hash file is found, it continues on to the next file. Otherwise, it copies the file to the blobs directory with the file name being the hash.
ROMs and user data, for the most part, do not change too much between builds and backups. So, your APKs, system files, etc, are generally only stored once. This saves a ton of space. Especially between incremental backups.
Some of you may be thinking "well, how do I delete a backup?".
First, never delete the blobs directory. This would actually delete all your backups by rendering them unusable.
Simply delete the usual backup directory, and the next time you run a backup, all the unused hash files will be automatically delete (a process known as garbage collection). The recovery will show "Freeing space..." while this is happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if you just want to backup your nandroids to an external hard drive. I just copied most of my nandroids from the phone to my hard drive. and deleted them from the phone.
i didn't touch the blobs folder.
So now my backups I copied to my hard drive are useless without the blobs? And on top of that, if I understand correctly, the blobs needed to make those backups functional will be automatically deleted the next time i do a backup?
this sounds horribly horribly wrong. how do i copy functional nandroids from my phone to my hard drive?
mistermojorizin said:
what if you just want to backup your nandroids to an external hard drive. I just copied most of my nandroids from the phone to my hard drive. and deleted them from the phone.
i didn't touch the blobs folder.
So now my backups I copied to my hard drive are useless without the blobs? And on top of that, if I understand correctly, the blobs needed to make those backups functional will be automatically deleted the next time i do a backup?
this sounds horribly horribly wrong. how do i copy functional nandroids from my phone to my hard drive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question, I made 3 backups one of the stock rom, which I stored to my mac.
The most recent back up the blobs are still on my phone, does that mash my mac backups are defunct now?
Cheers.
Great post wish777. I wondered about deleting a CWM backup when I read about the blob system, so it's great to have the garbage collection clarified.
Still, I agree with the other posts, the blob system makes moving a backup off the phone and back again unreliable. I am also old school - I ghost everything. That's why I'm using TWRP instead. I'm happier just dealing with image files that stand on their own.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Related
How can I delete past backups that are stored in the Nandroid Restore utility? I have like 6 and I dont wanna waste that space!
Thanks for the feedback!
Nandroid
Diamond777 said:
How can I delete past backups that are stored in the Nandroid Restore utility? I have like 6 and I dont wanna waste that space!
Thanks for the feedback!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are on your SD card in the Nandroid folder, view the details of the folder and delete the oldest one, I tend to copy them over to my PC to stop space clogging up on the phone.
When I try different ROM's I get them set up how I want them and then do a Nandroid backup, saves having to keep starting from fresh, especially if there is only a small update to be done.
Does renaming the folders messing this up.
Nandroid
123belly said:
Does renaming the folders messing this up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesnt mess it up as long as you do the following:
Example:
CBDMRS12-20100128-1509 Original Hero ROM
(just add an explanation of the back up on the end of the ID number, when you want to restore just remove the bit you added and stick it on your SD card.
I have done this a few times, I now have backups of most of the ROMS on here but the difference being that they are all set up with account details etc, i just got sick of inputting the same stuff every time I tried a ROM.
123belly said:
Does renaming the folders messing this up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say I changed the name completely and it would not restore. Luckily I had backed it up on my computer. I changed the name back to the original name and it restored no problem.
ljmeli said:
I can say I changed the name completely and it would not restore. Luckily I had backed it up on my computer. I changed the name back to the original name and it restored no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When unsure, dont use spaces.
claudefrog said:
They are on your SD card in the Nandroid folder, view the details of the folder and delete the oldest one, I tend to copy them over to my PC to stop space clogging up on the phone.
When I try different ROM's I get them set up how I want them and then do a Nandroid backup, saves having to keep starting from fresh, especially if there is only a small update to be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have root explorer on my samsung epic, I do not see Nandroid backup folder - where is it?
Thanks
It's depending on what recovery-rom you have been using..
AmonRA usually saves them at /sdcard/nandroid/ while clockworkmod saves them in /sdcard/clockworkmod/nandroid I think..
mljjlm said:
It's depending on what recovery-rom you have been using..
AmonRA usually saves them at /sdcard/nandroid/ while clockworkmod saves them in /sdcard/clockworkmod/nandroid I think..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it - it is under my Clockworkmod directory I was looking for nandroid directory
OH YEAH
This has nothing to do with what you guys are talking about but i found this nifty app that is good for looking around in your nandroid back ups..not just too look around but go inside them as you would in a .zip folder (if you get what i mean)
click here >>>>>> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.goddchen.android.nandroidbrowser&hl=en
Well, I have made a few NAND backups here and there whilst using different ROMs for my Evo. I only have one issue: how do I tell which setup was which ROM? Is there a way I can tell, without NAND restoring each individual one, which NAND backup is which ROM? Like maybe previewing it?
Also, I once read that you can take them off of your Evo and put them on a desktop so it doesn't take up space. Well I was wondering can I rename the folders and files to the setup they are or even to anything? Will it mess up if I try to restore to it after changing the name?
Thanks you
DRatJr said:
Well, I have made a few NAND backups here and there whilst using different ROMs for my Evo. I only have one issue: how do I tell which setup was which ROM? Is there a way I can tell, without NAND restoring each individual one, which NAND backup is which ROM? Like maybe previewing it?
Also, I once read that you can take them off of your Evo and put them on a desktop so it doesn't take up space. Well I was wondering can I rename the folders and files to the setup they are or even to anything? Will it mess up if I try to restore to it after changing the name?
Thanks you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can remove them to your desktop to free up some space on your SD card and YES you can rename your Nandroid folders not the files.
So for example if your Nandroid folder is setup like this...../Nandroid/HT0CMHL08312/BCDEARS-20110622-0404......THEN you can rename the BCDEARS-20110622-0404 into whatever you want as long as you don't have any spaces and if you do have spaces then replace them with either _ or - to avoid any errors during restore
Oh and this is all assuming you're running amon ra recovery not clockworkmod which the folders will be setup differently which in that case you would just rename the last folder before you see all the files such as recovery.img and things like that.......
Okay thanks. Do you know how I could identify them without restoring to each individual one?
DRatJr said:
Okay thanks. Do you know how I could identify them without restoring to each individual one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way I know aside from restoring them and to be honest, this way is kind of long but not longer then restoring the files one by one IS......
download an app from the market called unyaffs2
Make a folder on the SD card "whatever you want to call it"
once you download that app, copy over the system.img to that folder you just created from whatever restore folder you're trying to ID
Run unyaffs2
Hit Browse for input (find the system.img)
Hit Start Unyaffs
Once is finish doing it's thing, navigate to the folder you created and you should find a file called build.prop, go ahead and open it up with a text editor.....if you're using Root Explorer then is one of the options in that app
Once you're inside that app, navigate to the very bottom until you see "ro.modversion" and that should tell you what the ROM is whether is Cyanogenmod 7 or Sprint Lovers or whatever......
Kinda lengthy haha. I wish they would just have an emulator for PC or something to where you could just have it "virtually restore" from the NAND and see what it was.
DRatJr said:
Kinda lengthy haha. I wish they would just have an emulator for PC or something to where you could just have it "virtually restore" from the NAND and see what it was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah is long but not as long as rebooting into recovery, wiping caches and factory settings, restoring......getting an ID on the rom and doing it all over again time after time after time...hahahaha
So I've been doing a lot of experimenting over the weekend, and dutifully making Nandroids before trying a new kernel/rom combo. Problem is - I don't remember which is which now.
If I open the clockworksmod folder on my PC and examine each of the folders within, is there anything in there that might give me a clue?
Thanks!
When you boot into clockwork mod, if you click "backup and restore", then "restore", your most recent backup will be at the bottom
Its just a matter of remembering your Nandroid backup order after that. I just keep them written down now.
However, I've always been curious as to whether you can rename the backup in Root Explorer or Astro and still be able to restore it successfully. I dont have a spare phone to test it on though. I suppose as long as the file extension is the same it should still work
Sent from my Xperia Play using xda premium
You can rename the folder, so long as there are no spaces in the name. I would suggest, if you do a lot of nandroids, to go ahead and rename each one right after making it. Otherwise, you have to depend on the timestamps. Each nandroid is named based on the date and time, though I doubt the timestamp actually directly coincides with your current time. Mine always seem to be off.
lightningdude said:
You can rename the folder, so long as there are no spaces in the name. I would suggest, if you do a lot of nandroids, to go ahead and rename each one right after making it. Otherwise, you have to depend on the timestamps. Each nandroid is named based on the date and time, though I doubt the timestamp actually directly coincides with your current time. Mine always seem to be off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The time is based on Greenwich Mean Time, I think. Mine is always off as well.
I also do the renames, but in this case I was a little remiss and couldn't recall which I had done when, LOL! It's all good now though.
You can rename the backups in ROM Manager or by renaming the folders in the /clockworkmod/backup directory.
Enviado desde mi STM722HCZ usando Tapatalk
Go to where your nandroid backup is saved and sort it by time/last modified. Also, it is save in a time/date naming convention by default yyyy/mm/dd - time something like that
Also this app Nandroid Browser comes in really handy if you're working with a lot of nandroids on the device
Atarii said:
Also this app Nandroid Browser comes in really handy if you're working with a lot of nandroids on the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice app! Thanks for the suggestion!
Sent from my R800x using XDA
I keep a seperate .txt file in the same folder as fastboot, and write down which backup is which rom etc.
I tried to Google and couldn't find the correct answer I was looking for.
In the ClockworkMod directory, There's 2 folders: Backup and Blobs
The blobs folder has now grown to 1.33GB and contains 6233 files.
Can I clear out this folder?
I had 4 backups in the backups folder and deleted 2 older ones, to help free up 600MB.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
No, you can't. Or your back-ups will no longer work. The blobs are most of the back-up. Storing it this way means you can make incremental back-ups rather than all of them being stand-alone. Certain back-ups will share blobs, saving you space.
It's annoying, and it would be great if you could choose the stand-alone method or the blobs-method. But you can't.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app
Thanks EvilAlex,
But if I am happy with my current phone state, I could then delete them all the files in the blob folder plus the files in the "backup" folder and just create a new backup in CWM correct? [basically starting fresh]
Yes, you could do that. I did so just a few days ago. The back-ups I still had were obsolete. Still, just to be sure, I moved the back-ups to my SD card, just in case. Might be a good precaution for you, as well.
as i use CMWR backups before i use to install new ROM only (and one after successful stable phone) what i use to do is move the "gonna be" obsolete to my backup hdd in my pc and then create new backup. if everything is good and i want to backup again i do the same. so i only left with one backup in hand. the apps i backup via titanium backup, so i need the CWMR backup only for really ****ed up situations.
Evil Alex said:
Yes, you could do that. I did so just a few days ago. The back-ups I still had were obsolete. Still, just to be sure, I moved the back-ups to my SD card, just in case. Might be a good precaution for you, as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My back-ups were old and obsolete, I do not need them more.
There is a folder 'd41' inside 'blobs'(clockworkdmod/blobs/d41), I cannot delete them, even blobs folder(deleted failed).
Even from PC, it says
"Cannot delete b41:The storage is write-protected.
Remove write-protection and try again."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please help, sir.
Thanks..
Hi! I am new to making Nadroid backups. Yesterday, I could've swore my /blobs folder was about 3GB. Today, when I made another Nandroid and it was at 6GB.
I'm on the dedup method, so my /blobs folder shouldn't be increasing. I also tried "free unused backup data" and still at 6GB.
Here's my storage usage, attached. Am I in the right ballpark or is something odd here?
P.S. If anyone has a Nandroid backup management system, let me know! I keep jumping between CWM Recovery to make them and then to Android to fix all the things CWM Recovery does wrong (like the date-for-the-file-name; it's not 1970 and the month/day/time are all incorrect) and can't do (like viewing the backups, renaming the backups, uploading the backups to cloud storage).
My blobs folder at one point was at 4gig. I deleted all my backups except for two. Went into cwm and selected free space under backup/restore and brought it down to 1.01gig.
Mind you the only backup I care about (rooted, stock with TW) is 1.8gig but I have that on external and on my computer just in case.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
KorGuy123 said:
My blobs folder at one point was at 4gig. I deleted all my backups except for two. Went into cwm and selected free space under backup/restore and brought it down to 1.01gig.
Mind you the only backup I care about (rooted, stock with TW) is 1.8gig but I have that on external and on my computer just in case.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm...that may be it: this new backup required new blobs for whatever reason. Let me figure out a way to restore SystemUI and SecSettings to stock and then maybe delete those early backups...
How much space have you used,by chance, on the internal SD card?
~Ibrahim~
the blobs folder continues to grow with each backup. the only time it would decrease is you delete a backup then clear unused data after booting to recovery.
this blobs folder will drive your media scanner CRAZY.
my suggestion is to boot into recovery, set the backup type to .tar rather than the default .dup. This unfortunately will cause each backup to take up approx 1.5g, but that is an incredible reduction in indvidual files for the media scanner to scan. but, thats what ext sd cards are for
after making this change, if you have .dup backups you want to convert to .tar, you will have to restore each then backup again.
ikjadoon said:
Hmmm...that may be it: this new backup required new blobs for whatever reason. Let me figure out a way to restore SystemUI and SecSettings to stock and then maybe delete those early backups...
How much space have you used,by chance, on the internal SD card?
~Ibrahim~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I formatted internal when I went to PAC-Man I've done one back since so my internal is fairly empty. (I switched to TWRP recovery and the backups are around 750mbps)
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Russ77 said:
the blobs folder continues to grow with each backup. the only time it would decrease is you delete a backup then clear unused data after booting to recovery.
this blobs folder will drive your media scanner CRAZY.
my suggestion is to boot into recovery, set the backup type to .tar rather than the default .dup. This unfortunately will cause each backup to take up approx 1.5g, but that is an incredible reduction in indvidual files for the media scanner to scan. but, thats what ext sd cards are for
after making this change, if you have .dup backups you want to convert to .tar, you will have to restore each then backup again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YES. YES. THAT'S THE OTHER ISSUE! These things are all related! My Media scanner, out of *nowhere*, exploded to 50% battery usage.
Going to *.tar, then. Thank you hugely.
@KorGuy
I may transition to TWRP. CWM is a fine recovery, but it's backup solution isn't up to par. Appreciate the help!
0... I don't make nandroids... use the external sd...
Quasimodem said:
0... I don't make nandroids... use the external sd...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, so how do you backup? I make Nandroids onto the external SD.
ikjadoon said:
Wait, so how do you backup? I make Nandroids onto the external SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't make backups or use tibu...
Not sent from your phone...
Quasimodem said:
I don't make backups or use tibu...
Not sent from your phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're brave. But probably more experienced. I bootloop'd my GS3 after just trying to modify the framework-res.apk and my Nandroid saved me! But, I'm on TWRP now and it looks much better.
ikjadoon said:
You're brave. But probably more experienced. I bootloop'd my GS3 after just trying to modify the framework-res.apk and my Nandroid saved me! But, I'm on TWRP now and it looks much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got everything I need on the SD to fix whatever... not really worried about it...
Not sent from your phone...
To be honest the huge blobs folder you are stuck with using cwm is exactly why I switched to twrp recovery and I was a long time user and big fan of cwm for a long time. But the blobs really screwed that up for me anyway. Twrp works great and is better in my opinion ...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I'm using cwm 6.0.2.2 touch recovery and it doesn't have none of that blob folder crap
sent from the dark side of the universe....
thatsupnow said:
I'm using cwm 6.0.2.2 touch recovery and it doesn't have none of that blob folder crap
sent from the dark side of the universe....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just updated cwm and noticed that the default is now .tar
Good call from Koush, then. They're a good idea, but executed poorly.
But, CWM has problems for me beyond blobs: it mislabels backups without a way to rename in CWM, somehow mismatched the MD5 of my backups (until I renamed them to "backup" ), and doesn't seem to compress backups = all fixed in TWRP.
Battery life is fixed!